Theoretical Predictions of Body Tissue and Blood Temperature During Cold Water Immersion Using a Whole Body Model

Understanding the thermal response of the human body under various environmental and thermal stress conditions is of growing importance. Calculation of the core body temperature and the survivability of the body during immersion in cold water require detailed modeling of both the body tissue and the time-dependent blood temperature. Predicting body temperature changes under cold stress conditions is considered challenging since factors like thickness of the skin and blood perfusion within the skin layer become influential. Hence, the aim of this research was to demonstrate the capability of a recently developed whole body heat transfer model that simulates the tissue-blood interaction to predict the cooling of the body during immersion in cold water. It was shown that computed drop in core temperature agrees within 0.57 °C of the results calculated using a detailed network model. The predicted survival time in 0 °C water was less than an hour whereas in 18.5 °C water, the body attained a relatively stable core temperature of 34 °C in 2.5 hours.